As a 37 years old Catholic I find strange all this talking of "paying" to a religion... I contribute to my church because a building need maitenance. I payed for the summer camps organized by my oratory. I gave to missionary to help them in their works. But if I want to go to mass and exit without paying anything nobody would tell me anything.

This very much depends on the type of insurance, how well regulated it is, and the insurer.

America commits crimes against humanity in the majority of instances I for those who aren’t wealthy. The political leaders are so reliant on the profit based system that they make anti-human choices and laws. It’s plain old deadly greed. And too many people pretend it’s normal. It’s not. Tens of thousands of people die needlessly every year because our govt thinks healthcare is a market like any other business. And people aren’t allowed to know up front what costs will be. We are a very rich country and could afford to have healthcare for everyone, including better preventive care, dental, eye care and mental health care but that would not make profits for the needless middlemen. People who aren’t doctors make life and death decisions about what health care. The rest of the globe should call us on this as a anti- humanitarian crime - if not a deliberate profit based genocide based on lack of wealth.

Diamond are not only used as gemstones but also in the industry for various cutting and polisihing effects. You can't use the other gemstones for this as they are not as hard. This is also a contributor.

Men's razors are so much better in my opinion and not just because they are cheaper, but I get a closer shave with them.

I'm not sure "most people don't realise [this] is a scam" applies here. Most people know their appliances break before their parents version ever did, or know that it cannot be fixed the way their grandparents did. But a key feature of a scam is that you have a way to avoid it. You cannot avoid your microwave breaking due to planned obsolescence unless you build your own damn*d microwave, because EVERY microwave is built with planned obsolescence. This is more like "suspect and unethical practices we consumers encounter from companies"

Not exclusively an American thing. The reason I work in a completely different sector than my degree in art history is that I refused to do an unpaid or minimally paid internship, because I couldn't afford to. These art galleries would straight faced tell you they don't have money to pay you more than 195 euro a month for 40 hours of work, but spend triple that on an opening party for a new exhibition. Screw that. Edit: 40 hours of work a week. So 195 euro for 160 hours of work in a four-week month.

Aren't all cults and religions, though?

Most "charities" do this, sending money to the directors and doing very little of use. It's almost as bad as the millionaire celebs pestering us to give money to "their" charity. Look at the Oxfam scandals for a start!!

I love the ones where someone in *my town* is making thousands per day, accompanied by an image of someone with a pile of foreign money. Oooh, so authentic 🤗

JUST STINKING MAKE IT 37 EVEN

I bought one with tanks that I just pour ink into when they get low. No more tiny $50 cartridges.

Expiration date is added on these things because packaking materials (plastic etc) releases chemicals over the years into the product.

Libre Office for the win.

That people ever bought into this, or worse - still push it - is another draconian greed grab.

We should go back to glass bottles. Everything tastes better out of glass anyway, easier and cheaper to recycle, and a surcharge on the bottles (money back for empty bottles) means less litter.

I don't really trust carafes. It could be literally anything in there. Wine that's been left open for a fortnight. Old stock. Damaged stock. Diluted. etc.

This. I learned about this recently and it made me ill. I wonder what actually goes to the charity. Things like this should be transparent and easy to find out but most, if not all - are not. It’s devastating because I want to donate what I can to things and I don’t. : ( I donate to the KIND fund for desks and tuition for girls in Africa (school is not free and girls lose the most. They need personal products, too). I hope it is a meaningful way to give.

This one needs a bit of nuance on the organic part. Just because something is organic doesn't mean all the rules about nutrition fly out the window, but it isn't a scam in itself, it is a product that is better for the environment and the body as there are no (potentially) hazardous chemicals involved in the production process. However, the thing that gets me the most about organic produce is that the main reason it's so expensive (at least in my country) is that the certificates are so expensive and it drives the prices up way more than it needs. So what I do instead is find local producers who work organically but don't want to pay the certificates, and there are more of those than you'd think.

I love my tarot cards. The cards in themselves are beautiful. My mom gave them to me when I was young to perpetuate the tradition. I do tarot reading to my friends (very occasionnally). Mind you, I don't believe they're magic in any way. I just think that there is so many interpretations possible, that the one you chose to believe is true tells a lot about your frame of mind. So I don't read the cards per se, I read my friends instead :)

I hate this. I don’t get apps that have “in app purchases.” It’s limiting, but I won’t do it. The growth of “subscription” products (apps and other things) is another example of limiting access to things for lower wage people - I might buy something for ten dollars flat, but I can’t afford $4.00 a month - with automatic renewal. Also, “free trials” are usually not, requiring your credit card info and only available if you agree to pay after the free trial.

I had such a nightmare with travel insurance once, we had to cancel a holiday as my son got sick a couple of days before, they did everything to avoid paying out. Even said that not using blue ink when filling out the form was a reason to reject the claim. It went on and on until we threatened court action, then it was settled.

Individualism is a cancer - divide and conquer has worked for Boris the ballbag, Trump etc. And is an easy go to for conservatives. Pit anyone with any difference against each other and it’s an easy win for them. It’s all just a class war at the end of the day but they manage to chop society up and weaken their opponents. ‘Hustles’ shouldn’t have to exist but there is a political will to encourage them to weaken you. They want everyone to think it is every man for themselves, to fight each other for resources, because together we’d vote them out.

If you show that you’re willing to do the dog job they’ll keep you in it!

Human lives depending on a profit based “market” - every other developed country rejected this model, many for decades - because it’s inhumane and unthinkable.

Or non bank arms. 7 Eleven whereby am took away the bank arms from their premises and replaced them with 7 Eleven brand arms that cost all cardholders, regardless of which bank $2.50 per withdrawal. I hope this sends them bankrupt, cynical smarmy toads.

In some places bottled water is the only safe water to drink.

Caitlin Doughty, is that you? : )

So true

I'll cop to buying a Powerball every once in awhile. Somebody's gotta win it. And you gotta be in it to win it. I feel the same way about people who go after careers in the music or film industry. The odds of making it are pitiful, almost nil, but tell that to the likes of Tom Hanks or J Lo.

Playing the lottery is voluntary, taxes are not. No one is going to throw you in a cage if you refuse to buy lottery tickets,

Gambling is a game of small chances of success.

not stupid-just "mathematically impaired"

So are speeding tickets

Gambling of any sort.

With my luck I never win anything so I never buy lottery; since I never buy lottery, I never win anything. Actually I do buy a lottery ticket once in a blue moon, but yes I never win anything when I do buy one.

Okay - ask the people who won. Because it happens. If you're a compulsive gambler, yeah, the lottery is a problem. If not?

idiot tax, right!

It’s just awful, especially given that life coaching isn’t a regulated discipline. Sure, there are several scam accreditation bodies, but most people just don’t understand that I could make up my own college of life coaching and accreditation right here and now, give it a fancy name, and it wouldn’t really mean anything. Yet so many people fall for it. Please, please, please, stick to licensed and regulated psychologists and mental health professional (and check what ‘licensed’ and ‘registered’ actually means for your country, as it’s different everywhere.)

That's not a scam, it's just annoying

Had a rodeo burger. I could not believe how small this burger was

Crystals can definitely keep bad people away. If you throw them correctly, that is.

'Oooo, let's blame older people for a problem that could easily be solved by politicians if they could stop starting wars for five minutes'. In other news, the wall is working in hampering Mexican border-crossing. Apparently they are finding it much harder to get out of the US than ever before.

Seriously, just pay your waiters a fair living wage!

anything to "remove toxins" is a huge scam. Knew a woman who was selling detox foot baths for $1000 and people were buying them. Absolute nonsense.

This might be a "unique to the US" thing. Food supplements aren't separately regulated in the UK, but are covered by multiple food regulations, which means they sort of are regulated (they can't contain something not listed on the packaging, for example, and cannot claim medical benefits they don't actually provide)

Clark Howard has been warning people about this for years .

People have the right to go wherever the fck they want on vacation, don't they? I'd never go to Disney-anything because I hate it, but I don't give a shït if people want to go.